Discord Roar

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." 1Pe 5:8

Pay attention to Peter’s warning. He knew all too well from whence he spoke. Peter knew the sifting power of Satan in his denial of his Lord. In our day, the devil’s roar is brazen, heard in wars and clamor of wars, the cacophony of social unrest, the strident debates that divide communities, and the seductive whispers that lead the faithful astray. Tell me, amid all this discord, how do we still fail to discern his presence?

Satan's tactics have shifted. No longer content to lurk in the shadows, he strides into the light, emboldened by the blindness of a world that cannot, or rather, will not, recognize the spiritual warfare around them. And we, distracted by the din of our own making and the comfort of our own living, have become deaf to the spiritual significance of the cry.

To be sober-minded is to be fully aware that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world. The roaring lion seeks to devour, and his roar is terrifying, not because it announces his power, but because it highlights the vulnerability of those who have strayed from the fold.

Yet, the child of God should not be moved by fear. The roar that seeks to terrify also betrays the lion’s position. It reminds us to draw near to the Shepherd, to find shelter under His wing, and to gird ourselves with the full armor of God. The devil's roar may demonstrate his hunger, but it also betrays his desperation. He is a defeated foe, the usurper whose end has already been written by the victorious hand of the resurrected Christ.

In this dayof his roaring, we must cling all the more to the truth that "greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). The roar of the lion cannot compare to the still, small voice that calmed the storm, that called Lazarus from the grave, that spoke the world into existence. It is this voice that calls us to remember that our Redeemer lives and that He is the greater Lion of Judah, whose roar of righteousness triumphs, and forever silences the pretender's howl. Let us take comfort in the promise that the God of all grace, who has called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that we have suffered a while, will make us perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle us (1 Peter 5:10)

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